EL CAJON  Trolley service in El Cajon was shut down in both directions Wednesday afternoon after a 48-year-old man was hit and killed on the tracks, authorities said.

He was identified by the county Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday as Andre Duff Zollicoffer.

The accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. just east of the Arnele Avenue station in El Cajon, said Rob Schupp, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transit System.

Witnesses told El Cajon police that a man walked from the trolley platform onto the tracks and into the path of a southbound trolley. The driver activated the emergency brake and sounded the horn. The man tried to get back on the trolley platform, but was struck by the trolley. He suffered major head trauma and died at the scene.

He appeared to have stepped onto the tracks initially to see if the trolley was coming, and tried to retreat when he realized it was close, said Monica Zech, a spokeswoman for Heartland Fire & Rescue.

The trolleys were shut down in both directions in the area for about two hours, with buses carting passengers between the El Cajon Transit Center and Gillespie Field station, Schupp said.